SR News can reveal that two out of the three police forces in the North East have reported rises in knife crime.

The figures follow the trend across the UK which show that knife crime is rising nationwide.

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The Office of National Statistics (ONS) figures show that there has been a 14 per cent increase of reported knife crime in the Northumbria Police area, and Cleveland Police reported there has been a one per cent increase in their patch. Going against the trend, Durham Police Force actually reported a 9 per cent drop in their area.

However, this isn’t just a problem isn’t just endemic to the North East as the ONS show that knife crime nationally has went up seven per cent on the previous year and has included 47,513 offences involving a knife or sharp incident between June 2018 and June 2019.This is aimed at getting dangerous weapons off the street and arresting suspects involved in serious weapons-related offences. The police recorded 54 arrests during this operation.

They are also trying to tackle the rising knife crime through the Yolo project aimed at preventing young people from getting involved with knife crime and gang culture.

Barry Coppinger, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Cleveland, has said: “there is no easy fix in reducing levels of serious violence across Cleveland.” To target knife crime in the Cleveland area they have created knife bins in their four main police stations.

The PCC for Cleveland has also stated that the police force are committed at getting young people away from crime and “rehabilitate them and give them access to services that will allow them to rebuild damaged relationships and address any underlying issues.”